Kano: Sanusi Laughs Last

 By Elizabeth Chukwuma

 Barely  one week after Abdullahi Gandunje , the governor of Kano state and his political allies both at the Federal and state level succeeded in deposing  Muhammad Lamido Sanusi, a former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,  as the Emir of Kano, and  banished him to Awe village,Headquarters of Awe local government Area of Nasarawa state, through the Court process on Monday, March 9, 2020,  it elicited  a legal battle to secure his freedom.

 True  to people’s   believe that the deposed Monarch  may not  stay too long  in detention at Awe, the former Monarch was said to have instructed  his legal Team headed by Lateef Fagbami, a  Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, to  challenge his banishment.

   The deposed Monarch  may have followed the path of  Mustapha Jokolo, a retired Major, and former ADC, to President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired General, when he was Head of state between December 31, 1983 and August 25, 1985. The retired Army Major and  then Emir of Gwandu may have  ran into stormy waters and was deposed by the, Kebbi state  government  and subsequently banished, to Obi, a remote village in Nasarawa state. He regained his freedom through the Court process  in 2006. 

 This may have informed  why  he gave legal Team headed  by Fagbemi, a Human Rights Lawyer  headed to Court  to file their legal  papers  on Thursday March 12, 2020, barely four days of his banishment, to challenege the  deposed Monarch banishment.

Recall that Muhyi Magaji Rimngado, Chairman of the state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, PCACC, probing a N2.2 bill land scam level against the former Emir had secured a a Court Judgment which gave Gandunje , the state governor powers to sack  and banish him to Awe village in Nasarawa state.

Awuli Chikere, a Abuja Federal High Court trial Judge   had given Judgment on the case on Friday, March 13, 2020, setting Sanusi, the former Emir of Kano  free. To ensure that the order was fully carried out by the relevant agencies of government, without Complaint,   Justice  Chikere, had ordered that the  Court orders be served  Muhammed Adamu, the Inspector Genera of Police, IGP, Yusuf Bichi, Director General, Department of State Service, DSS, Ibrahim Murktar, Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Kano state and Abubakar Malami, Attorney General  of the Federation and minister of Justice.  It was done.   

Sanusi: In His Old Regalia As Emir of Kano

Signs that the  former Emir would be released from detention emerged when el-Rufai, a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and now governor of Kaduna state had  appointed him barely   24 hours after he was deposed by  Gandunje, the Kano state governor, t as the Pro-Chancellor of the Kaduna state University.

The appointment according to informed sources was an indication that the governor  who is a political ally of Buhari,the Kaduna state born Nigerian President , was not  happy with the action taken by his Kano state counterpart to enforce a Court judgment to remove the revered Emir from office.

Many believe that he may have appointed the deposed Emir as the Pro-Chancellor of the Kaduna state University to spite Gandunje and his political allies because of his believe that he would surely be set free through the Court process. Political watchers confirmed that there have been an underground warfare between el-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor and Gandunje, his Kano state Counterpart, over the sacking of the Sanusi as the Emir of Kano.

 The  governor who could not hide his feelings  over the detention of the deposed Monarch on Friday, March 13, 2020, met with him at the  Awe village , where he was staying , to use the Kaduna state language. Note that Journalists were not allowed to get close to the duo at the heavily guided building by security personnel as they were  made to stay 200 meters away from the place.

   On getting to  the location where the former Emir was kept in seclusion at Awe, el-rufal,  had greeted him with total respect as he have  shook him with  two hands, showing that   he still holds him in high esteem  even though out of office.  

Aware of the fact that the Photo Journalists  who had laid ambush for him  but were stopped  by fierce looking policemen from getting close to the building where he had met the deposed Monarch  would need the pictures of the historic visit  to Awe, his Media Team had shared  the pictures through his official Twitter handle. It was not surprising why the pictures went viral.

The Kaduna state governor may have been encouraged to visit the deposed Emir to prove a point that he has not  abandoned him . It was, however, bad news to Gandunje and his political allies who had expected to get  Sanusi II, the former Emir of Kano, out of their way in order  to languish at Awe, Nasarawa state as the Court truncated their plan.

They had expected him to remain  in Awe  for the rest of his life like  late Muhammad Sanusi 1, a former Emir of Kano, who incidentally was his grandfather but banished to Azare, Headquarters of Katagun local government Area, in present day Bauchi state . He was  removed by Ahmadu Bello, a one-time Premier of the northern region in 1963. The deposed Emir  died in 1984 without setting h foot in Kano again.

Gov. Abdullahi GandunjeAnd Sacked Sanusi , Emir of Kano, When The Going Was Good

Sanusi, who was very appreciative to those who had stood behind him in the trying period, particular, el-rufai, his long time friend and governor of Kaduna state had  said  that his removal as the Emir of the ancient City of City of Kano by  Gandunje was motivated because of his ‘’frosty relationship with him’’, which critics had said  started during ‘’Gandunje’s first term in office’’ .

The former Emir of Kano, who was said to have been accompanied by the Kaduna governor, had taken the next available flight fromNnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to Lagos on Friday, March 13, 2020, into the waiting hands of friends and relatives amidst tight security.

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